


Leavin' on a Jet Plane

by Kara_Dreamer



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Established Alphys/Undyne, F/F, Fear of Flying, I can't write fluff to save my fucking life without something like this happening, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route - "I want to stay with you.", brilliant Alphys is afraid she isn't a real scientist, fearless Undyne is afraid of flying, imposter syndrome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 23:02:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8597176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kara_Dreamer/pseuds/Kara_Dreamer
Summary: In a story set in the same "Alphyne Labs" continuity I began to establish with the unfinished story "Something a Little More Plain, Something a Little More Sane", Dr. Alphys and Undyne are about to depart for a conference on green chemistry in Virginia, flying a human airliner for the first time in their lives, forcing both Undyne's and Alphys's latent fears to the surface.





	

Chapter 1

**Born from Jets**

Undyne shouldered her knapsack and, for the thirteenth time in twenty minutes, reached into her jacket pocket to retrieve her phone and check the time. “Twenty-four minutes to eleven. Why the hell does Papyrus have to be so flippin’ punctual all the time? He could show up early for once.”

“At least he n-never shows up _late_ ,” Alphys reminded her lover, as the little scientist once again opened up her suitcase to double-check the contents. “He said he’d p-pick us up at eleven o’clock and that’s when he’s g-going to pick us up.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Pappy never breaks a promise, ever. But I’m so sick of waiting. We’ve been ready to go for hours now.” Undyne adjusted the shoulder-strap of her carry-on bag, feeling its slight weight. It didn’t contain much, only some toiletries and two changes of her nicest clothes. “At least I think we’re ready. Why are you still fussing over that bag, Alphy? We’re only gonna be gone for one weekend.”

“This is an important event, Undyne! My f-first invitation to a human scientific conference! I need to be prepared.”

Undyne strolled over to Alphys to put a comforting arm around her shoulder, and she glanced down into the contents of the suitcase that Alphys had packed. “Well, okay, that explains all the books and the papers, but do you really need to take the Wii U along?”

“Well...” Alphys blushed and hugged her girlfriend around the waist, hiding her blushing face in the folds of Undyne’s jacket. “I’m s-so _nervous_ about this thing, Undyne...I might need s-something relaxing to do at the hotel...”

“You’re supposed to do _me_ at the hotel, silly. Ain’t that relaxing enough?” Undyne grinned and kissed the crest of Alphys’s head. The lizard scientist squealed and giggled.

“Undyne, you’re embarrassing me!”

“It’s one of the things I do best, sweetie.” She kissed Alphys again.

“I kn-know, and I love you for it,” Alphys replied. “But p-promise me you’ll be more...well...r-restrained when we’re at the conference together.”

Undyne’s shoulders sagged a bit. “Ugh. That’s gonna be kinda tough on me, Alphy.”

“P- _please_ , Undyne. I want to m-make a professional impression. N-not all the human scientists take our work s-seriously yet.”

Undyne snorted in disdain. “Steve’s got no problem with us macking on each other! He’s a human scientist!” 

“Stephen isn’t the m-most ordinary human, I d-don’t think.”

“Well thank the stars for that.” Undyne scowled. “Well maybe I shouldn’t be along for this anyway. Why isn’t Steve doing this with you instead?”

“You already kn-know he’s unavailable,” Alphys replied, and Undyne nodded sourly. It was true; the human chemist they had hired to assist them six months ago, Stephen Corey, had astounded both his employers by managing after years of solitude to acquire a boyfriend in Highlands. Stephen’s (no doubt temporary) paramour had invited him to spend a blissful weekend together in a rented cabin upstate, on the same weekend as the Green Chemistry conference; as much as Alphys had wanted Stephen’s help on the trip neither she nor Undyne could bring themselves to command him to break his first date in almost forty months.

“Well, while Steve’s fooling around in the woods with his new boy toy I’m left trying to pretend I fit in with a bunch of chemists and engineers. You two are the scientists, I’m just some stupid ex-soldier who helps you build shit. I don’t belong.”

“ _Undyne!_ ” Alphys seized one of Undyne’s paws in both of hers and glared up into her face, green eyes alight. Undyne had seen this ardent expression on her girlfriend’s countenance before, had many times watched in awe as her lover’s smoldering passion for her scientific work blazed up into sudden fire, and it never failed to captivate the old guard captain’s soul. “ _Stop_ that! You aren’t _just_ my lab assistant.”

“Yeah, I’m your ‘plus one’, too,” quipped Undyne; the jest earned her another fierce glare and a sharp tug on her arm that sent a thrill of excitement down Undyne’s spine.

“You aren’t just my girlfriend either, Undyne. You are my _partner,_ in every sense of the word. You’re clever, and you’re strong, and you’re great with tools and machines, and I wouldn’t be able to accomplish a thing around the lab without you. Stop telling yourself you’re dumb! I want you at my side at this conference because you _belong_ there.”

“Yes, ma’am!” replied Undyne, flipping her free paw up in a martial salute.

Alphys smiled broadly, the fire in her eyes dimming to a gentle warmth. “That’s more like it. That’s the Undyne I know.”

Undyne’s single yellow eye glowed in response. “Ya know, Alphy, I always get a bit...excited when you talk to me like that.”

Alphys’s cheeks flushed a deeper pink. “Oh! Um...how, uh, h-how excited?”

Once again Undyne checked the time on her phone. “We’ve got about twenty minutes. I think that’s enough time to find out just how excited I am.” Swiftly she knelt down to wrap both her arms around Alphys’s plump body, and she pressed a quick but hungry kiss to her lover’s muzzle.

“Ohhhh...show me...” breathed Alphys when Undyne released her from the kiss.

Undyne responded with a quiet growl and scooped her girlfriend up in her arms, carrying her to their bedroom.

* * *

 

Eleven o’clock found Undyne and Alphys back in their living room, still a bit flushed and breathless after their amorous interlude but otherwise ready to greet their friend when he arrived. Eleven-oh-one was still thirty seconds away when they heard the cheerful melody of the custom horn Papyrus had had installed on his bright red Saab 900.

(“Do lots of human drivers make their cars sing an obnoxious tune when you honk the horn?” Undyne had once asked Stephen after Papyrus had given them both a ride to Alphyne Labs. “Fuck no,” had been his laconic reply.)

In twenty more seconds came the familiar fusillade of knocks on the front door. “UNDYNE! ALPHYS!” Papyrus yelled through the door. “I AM HERE AS PROMISED! IT IS TIME TO GO TO THE AIRPORT!”

Undyne rolled her eyes, slung on her pack and sprinted for the entrance. She opened the door onto Papyrus’s wide-eyed, grinning face, and his bony fist poised in midair, ready for more knocking. To Undyne’s surprise, standing next to Papyrus and blinking sleepily was his brother Sans, wearing a lazy smile and a cleaner than usual hoodie.

“UNDYNE!” Papyrus cried. “I am pleased to see you well! Are you and Dr. Alphys ready for your trip to the...where are you going again?”

“The ‘Twenty-First Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference’,” quoted Undyne. “In some place called ‘Reston, Virginia’. Don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of it.”

Papyrus stroke his mandible thoughtfully. “No, I can’t say that I’ve encountered that name before.”

“’Reston’,” Sans interjected. “Think that’s what I wanna be doing.”

“Sans!” Papyrus shouted, turning to his brother. “Coming along on this trip was _your_ idea! I was content to drive Undyne and Dr. Alphys to the airport _without_ your company. Feel free to return to the house if you want more... _resting._ ”

“Gotta admit, Sans,” Undyne added, peering curiously at the smaller skeleton. “Pappy’s given me a lot of rides to places without _you_ tagging along. What are you doing here?”

“No particular reason, Undyne! Even I like a change of scenery sometimes. And besides,” Sans added with a rakish wink, “it’s been a while, Undyne, since I’ve enjoyed your _arrestin’_ presence.”

“Ugh. Anyway, Papyrus, we’re all packed, just waiting on Alphy to--Alphy? You sure you got that?”

“Y-yes, Undyne,” Alphys panted, struggling to pull her heavily loaded suitcase toward the front door. “D-don’t worry about me. I--uff--I can handle my own bag.”

“Oh, come on, Alphy, gimme that.” In a moment Undyne bounded over to Alphys, scooped up the suitcase in one arm, hefted it onto her shoulder, and smooched the scientist’s nose. “You know I don’t mind hauling your shit for you, jeez.”

“I s-still feel kinda bad about it,” Alphys said.

“Well _don’t_. I enjoy being the brawn to your brains.”

Papyrus watched, his face creased into a joyful grin. “Aren’t they so romantic, Sans?”

“Oh, yeah, bro,” Sans affirmed, his own expression sunnier than usual. “Almost as sappy as you and your robot friend.” Papyrus’s cheekbones turned crimson.

“Hey, skelebros,” barked Undyne. “Think you can stop gawking at my girlfriend and me and get us to the airport?”

“Oh, yes, yes!” Papyrus exclaimed, snapping to attention and gesturing with his long arms towards the Saab parked on the curb. “Allow me to guide you to the convertible!”

“It’s right in front of us, Pappy.”

“Indeed it is!”

* * *

 

Five minutes later Papyrus had left the foothills of Mt. Ebott and the monsters’ home town of Ebottsville behind them, expertly guiding the old Saab round the winding mountain roads towards the human city of Highlands and its airport. Alphys’s suitcase was strapped to the luggage rack, while she and Undyne were squeezed into the convertible’s rear seats. Sans lounged in the front passenger seat, eye-sockets closed, apparently dozing. Low, grey cumulus broken only occasionally by patches of blue scudded across the sky, but the air was warm and Papyrus had opted to leave the top down as he drove, the end of his red scarf fluttering in the breeze.

Undyne shifted uneasily in her seat while Alphys snuggled her closely, eyes closed, leaning against her side. Driving interested Undyne and she hoped one day to get her own license but she never enjoyed being a passenger, especially with Papyrus’s unhurried driving style wearing on her nerves. Occasionally her foot stabbed at an imaginary gas pedal on the floor. “How much longer to the airport?” she asked at length.

“According to Google Maps, we have approximately another twenty-seven minutes of driving time left,” Papyrus called out. “But your flight is not until two, correct? You need not fear arriving late.”

“Nah, that’s not it, I’m just...ngaah, I’m _bored._ ” Undyne looked around at the scenery, idly watching the trees and signs and buildings passing by. Time and repeated journeys back and forth from Ebbotsville to Highlands on supply runs for the laboratory’s work had at last dulled the novelty of road trips on the Surface, and Undyne saw nothing about her to dispel her growing anxiety.

“You been on a plane before, Pappy?” she asked.

“Oh, yes! About two months after the fall of the Barrier I accompanied the Queen’s delegation in my capacity as the Royal Mascot on a trip to the great human city of New York to attend a session of the United Nations. Oh, it was such fun! If only you’d been along!”

Undyne dimly recalled this event; normally she took as little interest as she could in human affairs but even the gruff old warrior had to smile at newspaper photos of her best friend, the diminutive young Ambassador, conducting themselves with impeccable assurance on the world stage. Queen Toriel had wisely confined Papyrus to a secondary role but nevertheless he had also been a great success among the humans, winning many friends with his enthusiastic and overflowing enjoyment of human art and culture in New York. He had been particularly outlandish in his praise of a Broadway production of “Cats”, and afterward neither Toriel nor Frisk nor Sans could quite make Papyrus accept that the actors were only humans in skillful costume and not, in fact, an all-monster theatrical troupe.

“Yeah, you’ve told me a bit about what you did in New York but you’ve never said much about _flying_ to New York. You didn’t just go on an ordinary human airline, I’m guessing.”

“Oh, no! I was never clear on the details but I believe the Queen and the Ambassador were able to secure us a private jet.”

“Huh, that must have made it easier anyway.” Undyne frowned and pulled Alphys more closely against her body.

“Mmm, you okay, Undyne?” whispered Alphys, stirring in her girlfriend’s embrace. “You feel tense.”

“I’m fine, Alphy,” Undyne whispered back. “Just relax, we’ll be there soon.” In a louder voice she addressed Papyrus again. “But what was it like to be on the plane? I mean, that’s pretty crazy when you think about it. You just get on this big metal tube with wings and massive engines and when it goes fast enough, up in the air it goes.” She shuddered a little.

“What’s so strange about that? You’ve met Tsunderplane. It’s a metal tube with wings that flies through the air.”

“Yeah, but Tsunderplane is a _monster_. With _magic_. Humans don’t have magic. And their flying thing is like fifty times the size. How does _that_ work?”

Alphys opened her eyes and sat up straight, beginning to gesticulate with her paws. “The p-principles behind aerodynamic flight are not that d-difficult to grasp,” she began. “A solid object m-moving through a viscous fluid, such as air, will experience two forces, _drag_ and _lift._ _Drag_ results from--”

“Alphy. Alphy.” Undyne gently took her lover’s paws in her own. “This isn’t helping.”

“H-helping?” Alphys asked, her voice slightly puzzled. “What do you need help with, Undyne?”

“Me? Nothing!” responded Undyne a little too quickly. “I don’t need help with anything. I was just curious, is all.”

“Undyne...are you afraid of flying?”

“Alphy!” Undyne snarled, pulling her paws away from Alphys’s and folding her arms, staring with one yellow eye. “How could you! When have I **ever** been afraid of anything?”

Alphys’s eyes flicked downward for a second but then she met the soldier’s gaze, unflinching. “You kn-know I have answers to that question,” she murmured.

For a second Undyne’s lip curled in an angry sneer but in the next instant all her defiance evaporated. “I’m sorry, Alphy,” Undyne muttered. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You are afraid, aren’t you?”

“...Yes.” Undyne hung her head. “You can tell me all the science makes sense, Alphy, and that it’ll be fine, but...dammit, Alphy, I’m a _fish._ I get nervous when I’m too far away from water, even on solid ground, and you can’t get much further away from water than seven miles up in the air in a flying steel can.”

“Oh, Undyne!” Papyrus broke in. “Let me, the great Papyrus, reassure you with the wisdom of my experience: flying on a jet is superbly relaxing! Once you are in the air there’s hardly a bump or a jolt. You might as well be floating on a magic carpet! I thoroughly enjoyed my flying experience.”

Without opening his eyes Sans offered his commentary on Papyrus’s tale. “Bro,” he drawled, “after you all got back from New York, Tori told me that your plane took off fifteen minutes late because the moment the jet started moving you jumped out of your seat and screamed you needed the bathroom.”

“But I did!” Papyrus shot back.

“Then you tried to hurl yourself through a cabin window. When that didn’t work you bolted for the nearest emergency door.”

Papyrus sputtered for a few seconds. “I didn’t know they had a bathroom on the plane,” he eventually got out.

“What did you even need it for? You don’t even have a bladder.”

“I--that is--oh, go back to sleep, Sans! We’re approaching the city and I must pay attention to the road. Stop distracting me!”

“Whatever you say, bro. Lemme know if you need a break from driving to pee.”

“Oh shut up Sans!”

The rest of the drive went by in silence. Undyne buried herself in Alphys’s arms, shutting her eyes and trying to shut  her ears to the increasingly loud and frequent thundering of passenger jets soaring overhead.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I recently had to endure a two-week stay in Scottsdale, Arizona, to be with my fiancee during and after gender-reassignment surgery. I decided to channel some of the feelings I have about airline travel into this story.
> 
> This story does assume at least a very slight familiarity with the Universe that I established in "Something a Little More Plain". To sum up, in that story I posited that after the monsters are freed, they establish a settlement in a formerly abandoned human town in the foothills of Mt. Ebott, a town that I imaginatively named "Ebottsville". "Highlands" is a large human city some miles away. Moreover I assumed that Alphys set up her own laboratory on the Surface with Undyne as her dedicated partner in the business, hence "Alphyne Labs". Stephen Corey is a not very brilliant human chemist they hired as an assistant.


End file.
